[RedRose4]

It felt like hours before Topher started to slow down. He was panting, his breathing coming out so quick he could barely catch his breath. Looking back, he slowed down, pressing himself against a tree and breathing harshly against it while he peeked around it, seeing if his dad followed.
After a few minutes of silence, Topher collapsed down against the tree, sitting down and putting his hands up to his mouth, trying to muffle his quick breaths. He didn’t think of what would happen after he ran into the forest. Where was he anyways? He didn’t even keep track of the turns he took or where he was headed.

“Shit…” Topher looked around, slowly standing back up and looking at the sky. It was almost completely dark outside, the light subsiding to the point where Topher would be completely blind to see anything in the matter of several minutes.
Now he was scared of being alone, lost in the wooded area without any light or water, without an ounce of direction. Instantly Topher froze, his paranoia peeking as he thought the worst. He might just die out here…but would it be better than dying by the hands of his own father? Topher contemplated it and decided he had a better chance to survive out here then to try to go back home. His odds of survival were sadly even greater in the wilderness.